KANO TOMOKAZU: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A RAT BITING INTO A SHOGI PIECEBy Kano Tomokazu, signed Tomokazu 友一Japan, Gifu, c. 1820, Edo period (1615-1868)Exhibited: Netsuke, Edo Saimitsu Kogei no Hana (‘Netsuke, Flowers of Miniature Carving of the Edo Period’), Exhibition of the Nihon Netsuke Kenkyukai, 20th anniversary, Tokyo, 1995, no. 116.The cherry (sakura) wood finely carved and stained to depict a rat nibbling on a shogi piece, which is inscribed with the kanji for horse (keima 桂馬, the equivalent of a knight in Western chess). Both front paws grasp the game piece, with one hind paw gripping its tail and the other only visible on the underside. Natural himotoshi between the neatly incised tail, the body, and the game piece. The eyes are inlaid with dark buffalo horn and the incisors with bone. The belly of the rat signed within an oval reserve TOMOKAZU.LENGTH 4.1 cmCondition: Very good condition, minor wear, few tiny nicks, few light scratches. Provenance: Japanese private collection. Sotheby’s, 14 July 2005, London, lot 1033. French private collection, acquired from the above. With its reference to a horse, the shogi piece neatly makes the netsuke into a joint representation of two zodiac animals. The rat and the horse represent opposite signs in the Asian zodiac and as such are considered incompatible. However, if the ‘younger’ of the two signs (the horse) submits to the ‘older’ (the rat), then the pairing can be successful.The present netsuke appears to be a rare variation of this popular subject executed by Tomokazu and Ikkan.